nous les 99%

Published on ThinkProgress, by Jack Jenkins, May 15, 2014.

… Nunzio Galantino, the secretary-general of the Italian bishops’ conference (CEI) and bishop of the southern diocese of Cassano all’Jonio, reportedly told a Florence-based newspaper on Tuesday that Italian church leaders should embrace the more liberal path paved by Pope Francis and pay closer attention to progressive religious arguments.   Continuer la lecture de « Top Catholic Bishop Says Church Should Consider Accepting Gays »

Published on Dissident Voice (first on Global Power Project, see below), Part 2/4, by Andrew Gavin Marshall, May 14, 2014.

… What Fueled the Debt Crisis?

The 1980s debt crisis erupted when Mexico announced in 1982 that it could no longer service its debts to Western, and primarily American, banks. This resulted in a crisis that quickly spread across Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia. The oil price rises of the 1970s had led to a surge in revenues for oil-producing nations, which had invested their surplus oil wealth in Western banks that then lent the money to poor, developing nations requiring oil in order to finance their industrialization. Continuer la lecture de « How the International Monetary Conference Helped Fuel the 1980s Debt Crisis »

Donetsk self-defense forces give Kiev troops 24 hours to withdraw, on Russia Today RT, May 15, 2014;

Videos uploaded on YouTube by RT:

• South-East Ukraine: Crisis Diary (Unique Documentary Shot by Ordinary People), 25.18 min, May 3, 2014;
• Europe will now think twice before following Washington’s orders, 24.50 min, with Ex-CIA Officer Ray McGovern, April 14, 2014;
• NATO expansion to Ukraine will be grievous mistake for US – last US ambassador to USSR, 23.32 min, April 13, 2014.

Published on Russia Today RT, May 14, 2014.

The UN has voiced concerns over the apparent use of UN-marked helicopters by Kiev troops in their military operation against Donetsk regional militia. A video of a white-painted Mil Mi-24 strike helicopter with UN logo has emerged.

When inquired about the United Nations’ stance on the use of peacekeeper-marked military hardware in non-peacekeeper operations, the office for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson said such use would violate UN rules.   Continuer la lecture de « UN-marked strike helicopter ‘used by Kiev against militia’ sparks scandal »

This article is part of an E-IR Edited Collection on Indigenous Self-Determination – Published on E-International Relations, by Marc Woons, May 13, 2014.

… The idea of restitution might do better to reflect colonialism’s lasting and irreversible impacts. Yet, it raises serious questions. What are the reasons for restitution? What would fair restitution entail? Who should receive restitution? How would it be determined? The list of questions is a lengthy one. Here, very different perspectives emerge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Whereas the former assert their inherent authority to self-determine, demand self-determination as a right, demand recognition of prior sovereignty, and demand respect for historical agreements, the latter typically believe that these claims should be reduced in favour of more limited state recognition and greater forms of redistribution in the form of funding or access to state programs. Continuer la lecture de « On the Meaning of Restoring Indigenous Self-Determination »